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ProSys Information Systems and Technologies | ProSysFri, 09 Mar 2018 21:08:40 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4Dell EMC Unveils PowerEdge 14th Generation Servershttps://www.prosysis.com/dell-emc-unveils-poweredge-14th-generation-servers/
https://www.prosysis.com/dell-emc-unveils-poweredge-14th-generation-servers/#respondFri, 08 Dec 2017 12:45:24 +0000/?p=5038According to the recent ESG 2017 IT Transformation Maturity Curve study, organizations that have achieved the most progress in their digital transformation initiatives are seven times more likely to view IT as a competitive differentiator. These initiatives prioritize modern infrastructure that can improve security and efficiency while enabling innovation to support new business models. With […]

According to the recent ESG 2017 IT Transformation Maturity Curve study, organizations that have achieved the most progress in their digital transformation initiatives are seven times more likely to view IT as a competitive differentiator. These initiatives prioritize modern infrastructure that can improve security and efficiency while enabling innovation to support new business models.

With these goals in mind, Dell EMC recently announced the global launch of its 14th generation PowerEdge servers, the world’s best-selling server portfolio. Offering scalable business architecture, intelligent automation and integrated security, the new PowerEdge server line supports traditional, virtualized and cloud-native workloads in a software-defined data center.

OpenManage Enterprise with RESTful API delivers intelligent automation that eliminates the need for manual deployment, updates, monitoring and maintenance, enabling IT to focus on higher-value tasks. The enhanced OpenManage Enterprise management console simplifies server lifecycle management with improved user interface performance and 67 percent shorter setup time, thanks to 145 fewer steps. PowerEdge server issues are resolved up to 90 percent faster with proactive and predictive technology. The new servers support up to 50 percent more virtual desktop users per server and reduce cooling energy costs by up to 56 percent.

From a security standpoint, Dell EMC PowerEdge servers offer an integrated security architecture without additional licensing fees. Cryptographically trusted booting uses features such as silicon-based root of trust, Intel Boot Guard protection, signed firmware and automatic BIOS recovery to protect servers and enhance security across the data center. PowerEdge servers have a unique System Lockdown functionality to protect system configurations from unintended changes. The System Erase feature allows users to wipe data from storage and memory, and retire or repurpose their servers.

Dell EMC has collaborated with Intel to build PowerEdge 14th generation servers with new Intel Xeon Scalable processors in a number of rack and blade form factors. With 27 percent more CPU cores and 50 percent more memory bandwidth, these solutions enable organizations to maximize the performance of critical applications and workloads.

The new Dell EMC PowerEdge servers are the product of an intense development process that began back in 2014. It’s the first major server launch since Dell and EMC joined forces. The technology behind these servers will be embedded in Dell EMC storage and data center appliances, hyper-converged infrastructure solutions, hybrid cloud systems, and more. Expect the new PowerEdge servers to provide the foundation for software-defined data centers and drive digital transformation as organizations optimize their IT infrastructures for maximum agility, performance, security and efficiency.

]]>https://www.prosysis.com/dell-emc-unveils-poweredge-14th-generation-servers/feed/0What to Look for in Midrange All-Flash Storage Arrayshttps://www.prosysis.com/look-midrange-flash-storage-arrays/
https://www.prosysis.com/look-midrange-flash-storage-arrays/#respondFri, 08 Dec 2017 10:33:42 +0000/?p=5037Midsize organizations tend to have lower storage requirements than large enterprises, and are concerned about storage costs, ease of management and data migration. That doesn’t mean they’re willing to sacrifice performance, scalability and business continuity, which traditionally has required tradeoffs when considering midrange storage platforms. Now Dell EMC is expanding its industry-leading midrange storage portfolio with […]

]]>Midsize organizations tend to have lower storage requirements than large enterprises, and are concerned about storage costs, ease of management and data migration. That doesn’t mean they’re willing to sacrifice performance, scalability and business continuity, which traditionally has required tradeoffs when considering midrange storage platforms.

Optimized for All-Flash, the new Dell EMC SC All-Flash storage arrays offer premium performance and enterprise-ready features. They are designed to help customers modernize their data centers to gain more speed, efficiency and cost savings from existing applications.

The Dell EMC SC5020F and Dell EMC SC7020F are offered as 3U appliances featuring dual active/active controllers with eight-core Intel Xeon processors, up to 256GB of memory, and multiprotocol support for 10GB iSCSI and 16/32GB Fibre Channel network connections. The products deliver up to 399,000 IOPS per array and 3.9 million aggregate IOPS per multi-array federated cluster.

Intelligent data deduplication and compression, RAID tiering and pervasive thin provisioning optimize capacity and costs. The arrays also include an auto-failover feature for built-in business continuity, and ship ready to link into federated multi-array clusters for easy, non-disruptive workload migration and load balancing.

The new Dell EMC Future-Proof Storage Loyalty Program provides robust guarantees, money-saving benefits and investment protection for Dell EMC Unity and SC Series purchases. Customers who buy new Dell EMC Unity or SC Series products and have a valid maintenance contract are eligible for the program at no additional cost.

Built-In Virtustream Storage Cloud (for Dell EMC Unity only). Customers can automatically tier files and storage snapshots to the cloud with no capacity costs for one year, up to the program allotment.

ProSys is a Dell EMC Titanium Partner and participates in Dell EMC’s sales, operations and technical advisory boards. Let us help you take advantage of Dell EMC’s midrange all-flash arrays to support your flash-enabled use cases and workloads.

]]>https://www.prosysis.com/look-midrange-flash-storage-arrays/feed/0Do You Have a Handle on Your Organization’s Machine-Generated Data?https://www.prosysis.com/handle-organizations-machine-generated-data/
https://www.prosysis.com/handle-organizations-machine-generated-data/#respondThu, 07 Dec 2017 22:29:50 +0000/?p=5036The term “big data” is a bit of misnomer. Big data got its name because of the large volumes of information that organizations were collecting and storing. While big data is indeed massive, it has little if any business value if you simply collect it and set it aside like paper documents in a file […]

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The term “big data” is a bit of misnomer. Big data got its name because of the large volumes of information that organizations were collecting and storing. While big data is indeed massive, it has little if any business value if you simply collect it and set it aside like paper documents in a file cabinet. Big data is only useful when you analyze it, produce insights from it, and apply those insights to your decision-making processes and business operations.

Volume represents just one component of big data. There is velocity, which refers to the constant flow of data and how that data flow is managed in near real time. There is also a wide variety of data, including the structured data from a traditional database and unstructured data such as text documents, email, video and social media messages.

Data analytics involves the methods, processes and technologies used to analyze big data to draw conclusions, identify trends and patterns, make better business decisions, and prove or disprove theories and assumptions. More specifically, the insights gained from data analytics can be used to improve operational efficiency, productivity, customer service and marketing effectiveness.

One type of big data that’s quickly growing in terms of volume, value and complexity is machine-generated data. Machine-generated data refers to information collected and generated by sensors, mobile devices, security tools and other equipment. This data provides you with a full record of transactions and activity, customer and machine behavior, security threats and incidents, and other important data. Armed with this operational intelligence, you can better understand, in-real time, what’s happening across your systems.

Machine-generated data represents most of the data in existence. When properly managed and analyzed, it can provide insights that help you enhance the customer experience, prevent fraud or a data breach, and efficiently maintain technology and equipment. However, because most machine-generated data is unstructured and produced outside the organization, it can be difficult to capture, correlate and analyze.

Splunk Enterprise delivers operational intelligence by collecting, indexing, monitoring and analyzing log and machine-generated data from any source. Splunk forwarders deploy to any device, server and equipment, and forward data in real time for analysis. With intuitive search, analysis and visualization capabilities, all types of users can analyze data from on-premises data centers, the cloud or both. There are also hundreds of Splunk applications that prepackage reports and dashboards for specific use cases.

Splunk Enterprise and the new Ready Systems from Dell EMC help you understand and analyze your data so you can solve business problems and identify new opportunities. Let us show you how to tap into the power of machine-generated data to drive efficiencies and business growth.

]]>https://www.prosysis.com/handle-organizations-machine-generated-data/feed/07 Benefits of an Enterprise Collaboration Strategyhttps://www.prosysis.com/7-benefits-of-an-enterprise-collaboration-strategy/
https://www.prosysis.com/7-benefits-of-an-enterprise-collaboration-strategy/#respondThu, 24 Aug 2017 20:49:53 +0000/?p=4996Today’s enterprise has no borders. The pace of business continues to accelerate, thanks in part to a mobile workforce and constantly connected customers. Competition is getting more intense. Providing a product or service immediately, effectively and efficiently is now a requirement, not an aspiration. If you want to avoid being left behind, you can’t wait […]

]]>Today’s enterprise has no borders. The pace of business continues to accelerate, thanks in part to a mobile workforce and constantly connected customers. Competition is getting more intense. Providing a product or service immediately, effectively and efficiently is now a requirement, not an aspiration.

If you want to avoid being left behind, you can’t wait for a response to an email when something needs to be done. By the time you get in touch with the person you need, your competition will be three steps ahead of you.

There are many tools available today that can facilitate communication across your organization, including chat, instant messaging, video conferencing and web-based collaboration. However, simply implementing one or more of these tools will not improve business processes, speed decision-making or enhance customer service. In order to maximize the value of these tools, you need to develop an enterprise collaboration strategy that enables productive engagement and interaction with employees, managers, partners and customers.

Drives optimal productivity and performance. Collaboration enables the free flow of knowledge, data and best practices. Employees are more in tune with each other – and their customers – which helps them do a better job. Without collaboration, a great deal of employee knowledge will be untapped and most likely wasted.

Brings together distributed teams. If you have more than one location or employees who work remotely, a collaboration strategy makes interactions seamless and productive. Two or more heads are often better than one, even if each of those heads is in a different place.

Makes users more “available.” Sometimes people are unavailable to speak by phone, but they can collaborate via text or chat. A multimedia collaboration strategy can make this possible.

Provides the flexibility and agility of a small business. Collaboration removes complicated levels of red tape and bureaucracy that hamper both internal and external communication. By streamlining business processes, companies can also reduce operational costs and speed the sales process.

Gets tasks completed faster. Is there anything more frustrating than finding out that you’re doing the same job as someone else, or waiting on an approval that has already been given? Collaboration helps to coordinate tasks, eliminate duplication, consolidate sequential steps and ensure everyone is on the same page.

Leverages social interaction. Many companies are major proponents of integrating social media into business processes, while others are skeptical at best. However, social collaboration can be a natural component of enterprise collaboration, which is social by nature. It fosters interaction through employees’ social networks, not just corporate networks.

Your comprehensive collaboration strategy should not only be shaped by your organization’s specific business requirements, but by the needs and work styles of your staff. Most organizations have multiple generations of workers who communicate and collaborate differently. In my next post, I’ll explore how organizations can effectively embrace those different forms of communication in their technology decisions.

]]>https://www.prosysis.com/7-benefits-of-an-enterprise-collaboration-strategy/feed/0Why K-12 Education Is Embracing Collaborative Learninghttps://www.prosysis.com/k-12-education-embracing-collaborative-learning/
https://www.prosysis.com/k-12-education-embracing-collaborative-learning/#respondTue, 22 Aug 2017 19:46:37 +0000/?p=4993The traditional K-12 educational model involves mostly one-way communication. The teacher stands in front of the class and delivers a lecture. Students are then given assignments and tests, and mastery of a subject is based on correct responses. Collaborative learning is a complete 180 from the traditional model. Collaborative learning emphasizes interaction among groups of […]

]]>The traditional K-12 educational model involves mostly one-way communication. The teacher stands in front of the class and delivers a lecture. Students are then given assignments and tests, and mastery of a subject is based on correct responses. Collaborative learning is a complete 180 from the traditional model.

Collaborative learning emphasizes interaction among groups of students to achieve a specific goal or solve a specific problem. In many cases, the group determines what project they should tackle and what the ideal outcome should be. This can include a variety of collaborative activities, such as creative projects, writing, scientific experiments, and the visualization of concepts discussed in the classroom.

With collaborative learning, students don’t simply memorize facts or recite the single correct response to a question. Each student has a voice in their own learning. Collaborative learning requires preparation from both an individual and team perspective. Students have the opportunity to express and defend their own ideas as those ideas are challenged and scrutinized by others. They receive feedback from peers and offer feedback of their own. They learn how to compromise and come to a consensus.

Collaborative learning teaches students that success is found not only in the outcome, but in the process. They learn critical thinking and problem solving. They can leverage the strengths and expertise of each individual to complete certain tasks while working collaboratively to achieve a common goal. Students discover that there are often many approaches to solving the same problem. They learn that certain situations or problems can be interpreted differently, and not every question has a right or wrong answer.

The right technology is critical to collaborative learning. For example, video conferencing applications make it possible for students to connect face-to-face regardless of location. It can extend collaboration beyond the classroom and campus. Interactive whiteboards enable students to work together, solve problems and complete projects. Educational materials and resources can be securely accessed from any Internet-connected device.

The Intel Unite platform was designed to enable and simplify real-time collaboration. An Intel Core vPro processor-based, mini PC serves as the hub, and the Intel Unite application is installed on all user devices. Because Intel Unite is an open platform, users can collaborate on any device. Students and teachers can begin collaborating quickly and instantly connect to conferencing equipment, interactive whiteboards, and other collaboration tools. Access is controlled with PIN codes, while advanced encryption and other enterprise-grade security tools keep data protected. Content can be shared and edited in real time whether users are in the same classroom or on opposite sides of the world.

New Intel Unite capabilities include sophisticated meeting room analytics to track usage and monitor system health. Meeting control features have been customized to allow teachers to moderate and control who presents content. Schools can now use a static PIN, which allows all students and teachers to use the same PIN in a given session.

Just like in business, effective collaboration is becoming a critical part of K-12 education. Intel Unite provides the technological foundation for collaborative learning so students can learn valuable, real-world skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

]]>https://www.prosysis.com/k-12-education-embracing-collaborative-learning/feed/0Take Full Advantage of Flash with NVMe Technologyhttps://www.prosysis.com/take-full-advantage-of-flash-with-nvme-technology/
https://www.prosysis.com/take-full-advantage-of-flash-with-nvme-technology/#respondMon, 21 Aug 2017 21:26:51 +0000/?p=4984 As organizations progress with their digital transformations, they’re likely to see substantial increases in the usage of applications, such as high-definition video and big data analytics, that demand high performance. At the same time, data and traffic volumes continue to increase exponentially. Legacy infrastructure just isn’t capable of meeting such performance demands or storing […]

As organizations progress with their digital transformations, they’re likely to see substantial increases in the usage of applications, such as high-definition video and big data analytics, that demand high performance. At the same time, data and traffic volumes continue to increase exponentially. Legacy infrastructure just isn’t capable of meeting such performance demands or storing high volumes of data, much less analyzing that data to inform business decisions. As a result, more flash storage solutions have been developed, prices have come down, and flash adoption has accelerated. This has led to increased usage of Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) technology in the data center. NVMe is a new protocol designed to help organizations take full advantage of all-flash storage media and dramatically decrease latency. NVMe replaces legacy SCSI drivers that have been used with disk-based storage and have performance and scale limitations.

When extended over storage fabrics used by multiple storage solutions, NVMe can scale up to 1,000 shared storage devices while improving the speed and reliability of business applications. NVMe can run across both Fibre Channel and Ethernet fabrics to bring the simplicity and efficiency of this model wherever commands are transferred.

Pure Storage recently introduced FlashArray//X, the company’s first all-NVMe, enterprise-class, all-flash storage array. FlashArray//X uses new Purity DirectFlash software to enable global flash management at the system level rather than inside each flash array. Global management of garbage collection, allocation, I/O optimization and error correction results in higher performance and utilization. Pure Storage NVMe DirectFlash Modules connect with FlashArray controllers to enable direct communication between software and raw flash technology. With DirectFlash Modules, all flash within a module is accessible to the FlashArray.

End-to-end, software-to-raw flash optimization can cut latency in half, double write bandwidth and increase performance density by up to four times. FlashArray//X makes it possible to consolidate bandwidth-intensive workloads on just 10 DirectFlash Modules while delivering best-in-class storage availability and rich data services.

Just weeks after introducing the all-NVMe FlashArray//X, Pure Storage announced its NVMe Now promotion, which extends its Evergreen Storage program to certain competitive storage products. Organizations can take advantage of the newest, densest flash storage by trading in existing storage capacity for Pure Storage terabyte credits, which can be used to offset up to 25 percent of capacity purchased in a new FlashArray. The NVMe Now offer is available through October 31, 2017.

With the Evergreen Storage program from Pure Storage, organizations don’t have to completely repurchase storage every generation. By reducing the risk and expense of hardware upgrades, organizations can reduce total cost of ownership by nearly 50 percent over six years. By expanding the Evergreen model, Pure Storage makes it possible to future-proof storage environments by routinely upgrading the performance and scale of their flash technology with the latest controllers. Organizations can expand storage capacity and consolidate older flash arrays at the same time, receiving trade-in credit that can be applied to new arrays.

Organizations need to be looking at new ways to maximize their flash storage investments. NVMe is capable of meeting current and future performance and scale requirements without the limitations of legacy infrastructure.

]]>https://www.prosysis.com/take-full-advantage-of-flash-with-nvme-technology/feed/0Why Contact Centers are Critical During Mergers and Acquisitionshttps://www.prosysis.com/why-contact-centers-are-critical-during-mergers-and-acquisitions/
https://www.prosysis.com/why-contact-centers-are-critical-during-mergers-and-acquisitions/#respondThu, 10 Aug 2017 21:14:02 +0000/?p=4963The dollar value of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity totaled $5.7 trillion in 2015, an all-time high. After declining somewhat in 2016, activity is off to a strong start in 2017. The spike in M&A activity is largely attributed to higher earnings, sales growth and increased confidence among CEOs. If the current pace is maintained […]

]]>The dollar value of global mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity totaled $5.7 trillion in 2015, an all-time high. After declining somewhat in 2016, activity is off to a strong start in 2017. The spike in M&A activity is largely attributed to higher earnings, sales growth and increased confidence among CEOs. If the current pace is maintained through the end of the year, we could see $6.7 trillion in deals.

Despite the bright outlook, there are always challenges and risks associated with M&As. In fact, Harvard Business Review estimates a failure rate for M&As of 70 percent to 90 percent. In many cases, one or both sides realize the deal involves a lot more work and costs than were expected, even when the risks and benefits have been carefully assessed. As differences in culture, business processes, job responsibilities and technology are addressed, customers don’t always get the attention they deserve.

Communication with employees and customers is critical, even during the smoothest of M&As. If employees aren’t engaged and informed during this process, competitors will look to steal high performers who are feeling left out or nervous about the direction of the company. Failure to communicate early and often with customers can also result in losses to competitors. If customers find out about a merger or acquisition through the media or some other third party before they get information from you, the risk of customer churn increases dramatically.

The contact center is hub for customer interactions and must be functioning optimally during a period of significant organizational change. Before a merger or acquisition, organizations must understand the current state of the contact center, how it operates and how customer interactions are managed. Managers and advisers must assess and quantify risk, and then look for ways to improve operations in a way that could add business value. Contact center agents must be informed and prepared to answer customer questions about M&As.

A contact center assessment can help to facilitate a successful transition. A contact center assessment will determine if best practices are being followed, efficiency and productivity are being maximized, and customer issues are being addressed and resolved as quickly and effectively as possible.

An assessment can be comprehensive and cover all aspects of operations, or targeted to specific areas as directed by management. Items typically assessed include but are not limited to organizational structure, workflows, scheduling, staff utilization, cost per transaction, quality assurance, performance, customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction. An assessment will often involve interviews with managers and agents, call monitoring, reviews of call reports, technology analysis, and an examination of financial results.

The goals of the contact center assessment are to:

Identify areas for improvement

Create a business case for implementing changes

Quantify the business value of the contact center

Clarify the role of the contact center in maximizing customer retention and loyalty

Create an action plan with prioritized recommendations, a timeline, and a detailed list of risks and benefits.

Obviously, M&As require significant research and planning. Don’t make the mistake of overlooking the needs of your customers during a period of change, or the role of the contact center in keeping customers in the loop. A contact center assessment should be an integral component of M&A activity.